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Assignment Questions
Discuss the application of the International Law in Malaysia and elaborate 10 Treaties that have
been ratified in Malaysia.
According to AV Dicey, he stated that law is a guideline that can control the human behavior and
conduct. He also added that when a person fail to follow the rules and the guideline, he or she
‘may be punish with respectful sanction. Law is very important in terms of its application within
domestically or intemationally. With respect of Malaysian position in Commonwealth Countries,
we do apply some basic principles under the English Common Law as it is allowed under the
Section 3 and Section 5 of the Civil Law Act 1956. The idea here is to maintain the development
of the law and extend of the efficacy. First and foremost, Federal Constitution is the supreme law
of the land, it means the constitution of itself is the highest law in Malaysia. It is derived of its
respect of the establishment since this country gain independent. Thus, any law that inconsistent
with the Federal Constitution is null and void and this can be illustrate as stated in Article 4 of
the Federal Constitution, Moreover, this can be affirm in case of Loh Kooi Choon v.
Government of Malaysia (1977) 2 MLJ 187 where the court held that Article 4(1) declared that
any unconstitutional Jaw passed after independence would be void, this did not apply to the
Constitution itself. The court also added that the Constitution could not be internally
inconsistent. In his judgement, he stated that law made under ordinary legislative power, and law
in the form of Constitutional amendments, were two different things, and as such constitutional
amendments were not subject to the inconsistency clause of Article 4(1)'.
To be put on perspective, Malaysia is govern by its own law which is the Federal Constitution.
On the other hand, Malaysia do apply certain principle in the Intemational Law. First and
foremost, the terminology of the application in the intemationel law may be regarded as
“doctrines of incorporation and transformation”. It can be definéd as the intemational law be
automatically apply in state law. On the other hand, the doctrine of the transformation can be
define as the international law is not part of the state law. During the British intervention, the
practice of courts in Malaysia during that time was generally accepted as same as the British
courts which is the doctrine of transformation in respect of treaties and the doctrine of
incorporation with certain limitations in respect of customary international law. In regards of the
application of the International Law in Malaysia can be seen in certain perspective. The Federal
Constitution of itself also silence in regards of the application of the International in Malaysia
rather than the stipulated provision in Civil Law Act 1956. It is only said that Article 74 of the
Federal Constitution that give the power for the Parliament to create law based on the Federal list
or the Concurrent List. Therefore, it can be noted thet the application of the Intemational Law in
Malaysia can only be realized through the power of Parliament as stated on the Article 74 of the
Federal Constitution. Moreover, through parliament the application of the Intemational Law can
be part of the Malaysia once itis by the houses which the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara.
+ Malaysia Legal Systern: The understandable Concept, & February 2011Moreover, Article 80(1) of the Federal Constitution also extend the power of the executive that
all matters with respect to which Parliament may make laws. Based on the ‘Federal List’, the
Parliament may include the “extemal affairs” of the states which incorporated into “treaties,
agreements and conventions with other countries”. Thus, the executive authority of the
Federation have the power to create law under the circumstances of the treaties, agreements and
conventions with other countries. It can be said that Malaysia power in the treaty-making power
is vested in the executive authority of the Federation. This can be affirm in case of State of
Kelantan v the Government of Malaysia. This case is about the State of Kelantan whom asked
to the High Court to declare that the Federation of Malaya Agreement and the Malaysia Act to
establish Malaysia were null and void or not binding on the State of Kelantan, one of the
component states in the Federation. The State of Kelantan also added that the consent of the
individual States of the Federation of Malaya should have been obtained before the arrangements
for Malaysia can be lawfully implemented. The court held that the constitutionality of the
Malaysia Agreement had nothing related with consultation with any State Goverment or the
Ruler of any State on the ground that the constitution can ground by itself.
To be sum up on regards of the application of the International law in Malaysia can only be done
through the power of the executive and also through the Parliament as allowed under the Federal
Constitution.
On the other hand, Malaysia had signed certain treaties as part of its guidelines in giving the right
to people at large. It is just not ratify the requirements of human need but also to encourage the
development of the stipulated law. First of all, this can be seen when Malaysia ratified the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1955. The objective of this
convention is to uphold the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children
under the age 18% The CRC is based on four main principles, which are the principle of
nondiscrimination, the best interest of the child, the right to life, survival and development, and
considering the views of the child in decisions which affect them. At the moment, laws that
govern the rights of children in Malaysia are codified in Child Act 2001.
Despite recognizing the CRC, the Malaysian government has made several reservations. A
reservation is defined by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties as, a unilateral
statement, however phrased or named, made by a State, when signing, ratifying, accepting,
approving or acceding to a treaty, whereby it purports to exclude or to modify the legal effect of
certain provisions of the treaty in their application to that State. Hence, it allows the Malaysian
government to disagree with some of the provisions of CRC. For example, Article 28 of CRC
provides that every child has the right on free and compulsory primary education. So, a child,
regardless of his status, is entitled to education. However, since Malaysia has made reservation
on this provision, a child refugee is not allowed to enter any public school in Malaysia because it
is not in the conformity with the Malaysian laws and policies.
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: addendum: mission to
Malaysia, 8 February 2011Another treaty that has been ratified by Malaysia is the Convention on Biological Diversity.
‘The main objective of the convention is to develop national strategies for the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity and, fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from
genetic resources, According to the official website of the convention, Malaysia is one of the
world’s megadiverse countries. It is also ranked 12th in the world, according to the National
Biodiversity Index, which is based on estimates of country richness and endemism in four
terrestrial vertebrate classes and vascular plants’.
From this treaty, in 1998, Malaysia government has established its own National Biodiversity to
implement and fulfill its duty and obligation under the Convention. The policy provides the
direction for the nation, consisting of 15 strategies and 87 action plans for implementing the
Convention with the vision to conserve Malaysia's biological diversity and to ensure that its
components are utilized in a sustainable manner for the continued progress and socio-economic
development of the nation. The implementation of this policy is led by the Ministry of Netural
Resources and Environment. Other than that, there are two main acts that regulated the
biodiversity in Malaysia, In Peninsular, there is Conversation Act 2010 while in Sabah &
Sarawak, law governing the biodiversity is the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and
the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 apply respectively. Subsequent implementation
will further enhance the long-term sustainability and continuity of the forest in Peninsular
‘Malaysia, through the development of ecological corridors between and within forest complexes.
‘Next, another treaty signed by Malaysia is United Nations Convention against Corruption
(UNCAC). The Convention has 71 Articles and divided into 8 parts. It obligates the states who
ratified the convention to implement anti-corruption measures which may affect their laws,
institutions and practices. The objective of theses measures is to prevent corruption, criminalize
certain conduct, strengthen intemational law enforcement and judicial cooperation, provide
effective legal mechanisms for the implementation of the convention. In Malaysia, there is
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which replaced the Anti Corruption Agency
‘Act 1982 to the MACC Act to monitor and assist the country in preventing the corruption,
Malaysia is the 125th country to ratify the convention and was among the first few countries to
sign the convention when it first came about back in 2003. The ratification proved that Malaysia
‘was serious in its measures to weed out corruption in the country as well as abroad, and would be
a positive signal to the international community’, According to the report made by UNCAC in
2013, Malaysia has one of the highest number of good practices in the world when it comes to its
authorities war on graft and received recommendations for best practices in a total of 23 areas
which is highest number out of all countries reviewed.
» Dawa, , S, (1976). Bad teachers make good ones ineffect
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+ Stewart, Jan. (2010). Supporting Refugee Children: Strategies for Educators: University of Toronto Press.
Tibetan Review 21 (6)The other treaties that are ratified by Malaysia is the Employment Service Convention, 1948,
This convention or treaties is about the International Labour Organization Convention that
preamble the adoption of certain proposals concerning the organization of the employment
service. The reason why Malaysia ratify this convention is to uphold the rights of the employer
globally. This is to ensure that every citizen that had been employ can be utilized under the one
tule or significant guideline. It is only dealt with the labour issues, particularly international
labour standards, social protection, and work opportunities for all citizen. Nevertheless, this
convention encourage the draft programme and budget of the organization for submission to the
conference. Apart from that , they have a body that regulates the in electing the director-general,
requesting information in regards of the labour matters, appoints commissions of inquiry and
supervises the work of the Intemational Labour Office. In the end, Malaysia is one of the
countries that ratify this conventions’.
Other interested treaties that had been ratify by this country is the Five Power Defence
Arrangements in 1971. This agreement is created through a tide relationship with other states
including Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore (all
Commonwealth members).The five states will advise between them if there is any aggression or
threat of attack against Peninsular Malaysia or Singapore. As stated under Anglo-Malayan
Defence Agreement, United Kingdom will guarantees the safety of Peninsular Malaysia and
‘Singapore based on consultation. Apart from that, this convention allowed the exchange of skill
in terms of military exercises. ‘This can be seen in 198] where the five powers organized the first
annual land and naval exercises together. This can give some advantages to Malaysia in learning
and experiencing the new combat ability and modernized with a global standard. Apart from that,
Malaysia can reduce its cost in terms of expenditure for the past budget. The effect of this
convention, United Kingdom have the facilities based in Malaysia and Singapore in support of
this treaties.
In terms of economy, Malaysia had ratify the General Agreement on Trade in Services or
(GATS). This convention is part of the treaty by World Trade Organization or WTO. The
purpose of this trade is to ensure the multilateral trading system that incorporated the world at
large. The purpose of this convention is to remove the barriers that may stop other country to
trade with the other country. It is to narrowing down the schematic of the unworthiness to
worthiness in giving the completion in trading. Even though, there are certain criticism in terms
of its implementation but according to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he believe that this convention
can encourage the poor state to develop their country in regaining the new module of promising
business’.
+ Peacher, Adam. {2010}, Employment Rights at the eyes of the World: University of Toronto Press.
* Christin, Nick. (2003). World Trade Organization: How far as itis Concer: Leidgham Book PrintingOn the other hand, in 1972, Malaysia signed the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC),
which prohibits the usage of biological weapons. Malaysia did make a reservation on this
convention where Malaysia’s ratification of this convention does not in any way constitute
recognition of the States of Israel nor does it consider itself duty bound by Article VII to provide
assistance to this State. Where the Article VII provides that to assist States which have been
exposed to a danger as a result of a violation of the BWC.Although Malaysia has been the
signatory to BWC since 1972, the Convention has not seen a great involvement from Malaysia.
Tn 2011, it was reported that Malaysian officials were preparing a legislation intended to help the
country meet its nonproliferation obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention. The bill
is intended to ensure the secure management of disease agents without interfering with valid
biological science efforts and improving national security against biological and chemical
threats.